[Author's note: As stated, this story follows all new characters, as well as ones we are all familiar with. I would gladly take any constructive criticism/comments on this. I feel like this is a big risk, but I loved these new characters so much that I just had to share them.]

Chapter 1: The Runaway

She stood there in silence and held still as she analyzed the sounds of the forest. There was a particular pattern to the sound of the wind as it went through the trees. There was a break, a twig snapping a few feet away. She turned around to face the sound and hurled a dagger sharply in that direction. She heard the dagger cut into the flesh of something, and waited.

A hunter slumped forward from the darkness, her dagger deep in his skull. He took a few steps, then collapsed on the dirty forest ground. She dropped her hand, which was still in the dagger throwing position, and made her way over to the man. She knelt down beside him and dug through his pockets, looking for anything of use. She gathered a few sovereigns and ripped her dagger out of him. The sound of her dagger slipping out of his head was unpleasant to say the least, but she had become used to it.

She strapped her finely carved blade back onto her belt and began the trek back to her camp. After a few steps, she noticed the overhanging branches from the trees in front of her began to bend with invisible force. She realized a force spell was coming right at her, but by the time she noticed it, it had already knocked her down.

She let out a grunt as her back hit the ground hard. The spell had knocked the wind out of her, and she continued to lie on the ground, gasping for air. She could hear more twigs snapping and leaves rustling as something, or someone, was approaching her. She attempts to turn her head and see, but the whiplash caused by the spell made her neck sear in pain.

Suddenly, a man came into her field of vision, blocking the sky. He tilted his head sideways in curiosity, his features obscured by the shadow he was casting. "Interesting," the man said. He tilted his head the other way now, and she struggled to make out any part of his face other than a silhouette. "You were not who I was expecting," the man speaks again. His voice is calm and genuine, and she begins to feel like this man has no intention to harm her. After all, she's completely powerless, and he has not attempted anything.

The man stands up and extends his hand out to her. She looks at his hand for a moment, noting the bandages on his fingers. He shakes his hand slightly, coaxing her silently to take it. She hesitates, but decides she's in too much pain to argue. He pulls her up to her feet quickly, and she hisses in pain.

She tries to look at him again, her eyes slowly adjusting to the shadows cast by the trees. Her vision finally clears, and she can now make out her second attacker who turned out not to be an attacker at all.

The man had the darkest brown hair that barely kissed the top of his shoulders. He wore a light armor made of leather and a deep blue fabric. His hands were covered haphazardly with bandages, something she assumed the man had done to himself. His most striking feature though, was the fact the she couldn't see the man's eyes. They were blocked by a strip of cloth. She looked past him for a moment to see the dark grey embellished staff he had attached to his backside.

"I didn't mean to hit you," he said, breaking her stare. She looked back at his face, bewildered by the cloth covering were his eyes should be. "Do you speak the same language? I know some Arcanum, but nothing that's very useful outside of a bar or a brothel," the man says with a slight chuckle.

I know Arcanum, she thought to herself. She continued staring at him, unsure whether to run or wait for him to do something. Finally she spoke. "I can understand you," she says. He cracks a slight smile and shifts his weight to one side.

"Ah, good. I was really hoping I didn't have to attempt Arcanum. It's so bad I'm certain it would kill small animals." She laughs at his obvious attempt at humor, though she tried not to.

"Let's not kill all the squirrels," she says to the man. He takes a few steps forward and then bows slightly. She's taken aback by his sudden display of good manners.

"I'm Martan Durin, of Kirkwall. I apologize again for the hit in the face."

"Kirkwall?" she says wrinkling her brow. "What are you doing this far away from Kirkwall?" He looks down at his feet, kicking at the dirt nervously.

"And I should ask you what you are doing so far from Ferelden," he says as he continues to spread the dirt. This strikes her as odd. How did he know I was from Ferelden? She wonders if she has some sort of accent that she isn't presently aware of.

"Do I…know you?" she says as she takes a short step in his direction. He shifts his weight to the other side.

"No…I have never seen you before. Your clothes smell faintly of mud that I recognize is from Ferelden, so I assumed that is where you are from. No?" She looks all over her body for traces of said mud, but sees nothing. She looks back at the strange man and he can feel her eyes on him.

"I know what you're thinking," the man says, waving his hands animatedly as he talks. "You're wondering how I can see you at all." She nods slightly. He slowly walks around her. "It's the magic, you see. I am technically blind, but the lyrium can help me see." She follows him with only her eyes as he continues to slowly make a circle around her. "It's…a vicious cycle. I use the lyrium to see, but in doing so, have become addicted, like a renegade Templar."

He completes his walk around her, and stops directly across from her. He hesitates, but then takes a few slow steps up to her. She flinches back and he sticks out his hand in protest. He takes his other hand an lifts a part of the fabric that is covering up his eyes.

She jumps back slightly as she looks into his eyes. All the color in his eye is a faded grey with a dull white pupil. It was pretty obvious that he is definitely telling the truth. She stares at his eyes intently for a moment, until he suddenly feels uncomfortable and tugs the cloth down back over his eyes. "So," he says, "I have been truthful with you. Are you intending to say anything to me?"

"Why did you hit me? That was quite painful," she crosses her arms at him.

"I was initially following the hunter," he says, pointing down to the hunter she felled before he hit her. "I knew he had gone in this direction, and I blindly threw a force spell at him. Again, I apologize."

"Why would you blindly cast a spell at someone? I don't blindly throw knives at my foes. By the time they see me, they are probably already dead."

"Hmm. Interesting. I can heal that up for you," he says as he motions around his own neck. She thinks for a moment, remembering her father's obvious objections to mages. He had told her that there were few mages that he could trust, and to assume that they will turn on you at any time. She thought about it again, realizing her parents aren't here, so why would it matter?

"I guess you could." Martan holds out his hands and sends light blue waves of magic toward her body, releasing the tension that had troubled her neck and shoulders. The healing magic was cool and refreshing.

"There," he says, lowering his hands. "Is that better?" She tugs on the back of her neck and then gently rotates her shoulders in soft circles. She nods and throws a light smile on him.

"Are you traveling to Orlais?"

"Perhaps, why?"

"There are at least five other hunters out here. I would be more than happy to travel with you." She replays his words in her head. Five hunters? How did he find fire when I could only detect two?

"Five hunters? Are you sure?"

He chuckles lightly to himself. "Believe me, they weren't after me." She looks hard at him, unsure whether or not to trust him. She is certain she could take down the hunters alone, but what if they all converged on her at once? She decided there was no better way then to take the blind man with her.

"I suppose that is alright," she turns and begins to continue on her westbound trail. After only a few feet, she turns quickly on her heels to face him again. "You hit me with another spell like that," she says as she points a finger at him. "And I'll put one between your eyes." Martan can detect the joking tone of her voice and smiles lightly, saying nothing. She turns back to face the forest and they head on toward Orlais.